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That is a really shitty secret. In fact, I’m pretty sure everyone reading this right now already knew.

I didn’t really intend to *not* blog about it, it just sort of happened that way. To briefly recap: this past spring I chose to only run half marathons; after what was almost 2 years of being on the injury-overtraining-injury-too much rest-injury rollercoaster, I knew I needed both a physical and mental break. I made myself a promise that I wouldn’t attempt another marathon training cycle until I both a) ran a half marathon PR and b) was consistently running 40ish miles per week for at least 8 weeks straight.

While I didn’t exactly hit the half marathon PR, I came close enough in New Jersey. That’s when the wheels in my head started turning.

After a talk (actually, a lot of talks) with a good friend of mine in my running group, high on an almost-half-PR and Boston 2014 fresh in both of our minds, we decided this is it. Time to fully commit to a strong training cycle and lay it all on the line with the hopes of a sub-3:35 awaiting us at the end. With the desire of Boston burning strong (and some legitimate logistical life issues that made the early fall marathon make sense), we decided we will run the Lehigh Valley VIA Marathon on September 7th.

All that being said, I didn’t want to start blabbing on the internet about my next marathon. I have a habit of overreaching early on in an “official” training cycle and I was half convinced I’d end up with some sort of injury after a week or two and to be honest? I wasn’t ready to share another marathon-related defeat with the world.

Time rolled on, training continued with its inherent ups and downs, life brought me some personal trials and tribulations and … internet silence continued. Ye olde blog took a backseat.

So now here I am, with less than 3 weeks of training before taper and I figured I should probably start talking about this stupid thing. My original plan was to be averaging 50mpw over this training cycle and I will fall a little short of that. Truth is, I have had some varying “niggles” – some more concerning than others – that necessitated a step down from where I wanted to be. However, I’ve also had some very promising workouts and have been maintaining a 45mpw average over the past 16 weeks that I’ve been tracking. It’s more than I’ve ever done before, and it’s definitely been enough to make me eat all the food.

I feel cautiously confident about a BQ. I think that weather will have the final say – and that’s the gamble you take with an early fall marathon. I will say that random aches and pains aside, I feel the most fit that I’ve ever been. I owe a lot of that to my training partner and friend – she’s a bit faster than I am, and having run with her for almost every speed workout and long run over the past 4 months or so, I know I have improved much more than I would’ve been able to do on my own. (It also helps that we have a super awesome coach/friend who is very encouraging and supportive *psst Doobeedooo psst*).

This is relevant, because I often draft off certain people and also count their wedgies. #tmi

I plan to write up a high level summary of my training thus far, mostly because I hate reading running blogs that are like “ooh sparkles and magic/look at me run solid marathons/must just be natural talent/I will never tell you how I train!” I am sure that all 4 of you reading this are waiting with bated breath.

So that’s where I’m at. Training for a marathon, hoping this old and creaky body hangs on for another 2+ weeks of higher mileage and workouts, and getting ready for some taper crazies. If y’all could start talking to the weather gods now and keep Sept. 7th on their radar, I will owe you big time, ok? I’ve been known to make hearts out of Swedish fish for people … and then eat them myself. That’s just the kind of giving person I happen to be.

19 Responses to “The Secret’s Out”

“ooh sparkles and magic/look at me run solid marathons/must just be natural talent/I will never tell you how I train!”

It’s even more irritating when bloggers DO explain how they train…and their training is laughable: “Oh I run 4 miles Tuesday and Thursday and then run maybe 8 or 10 miles on Saturday, then I just bust out a 2:57 marathon LOL.” Meanwhile I need like 40 miles a week just to break 21 minutes for 5k.

Hahahaha yes! I usually get too ragey to keep reading in those cases. Most of the time I assume the author is lying through their teeth. Talent is great, but why is it a bad thing to admit that you work hard to reach your goals?

I truly cannot wait to see you cross the finish line like a boss. If you don’t blog about it, it doesn’t exist….so this whole training cycle could have been in a long lost dream…I hope not because I want to see you in a few weeks.

1. I can’t wait to hear about your four letters, two abbreviations. (I won’t jinx it!) But think “how you get to Boston by time and what happens when all the stars align after a kick ass training cycle”.

2. I always have a wedgie. You probably counted mine at Lake Effect. I’m happy to be part of the statistic.

3. I am exactly the same about being an overachiever if I talk to soon. I was so excited about MAF that I made my plan and posted it. Then that plan didn’t work out. Plan two was made. Injury. I am hesitant to post my base building plan, haha!

Wedgies for everyone! Maybe I’m just a head case, but I feel like if I post detailed training plans and then things don’t go according to plan, I end up explaining away and making excuses and blah, even I don’t want to hear that. But I also don’t want to come across as if I’m trying to be deceitful in the amount of work or type of workouts I’m doing, if that makes sense. I also love to hear about what is working or not working for others! So I feel like I should share as well.

I am very excited to hear about your comeback, lady! I’ve been seeing some very encouraging tweets and after all the work you’ve put in to rehab yourself well, you are owed about a million karma points when it comes to running.